My First Epiphany

Way back on June 24, 1968 I had my first one. I call this story my 32-32-32 story. I spent the first 32 years of my life doing everything the world says is important to do. You know, be a success, make a lot of money, do your own thing, leave your mark, change the world, build a bigger, better mousetrap...all that stuff. I thought I pretty much did that by 1967. Had my own manufacturing business, 34 employees and must have arrived since Bethlehem Steel's sales guy would take me out for 3 martini lunches to get my steel orders. Does it get any better than this? Everything was just perfect. The great Phil Wolff had done it. No place to go but up. Wrong!

My marriage fell apart, my kids didn't know their father, things started going "wrong", my great employees started leaving for all kinds of strange reasons, their replacements were the opposite and everything seemed to be falling apart, with crazy disaster after disaster. Lots of stories. Finally went out for lunch with my lawyer buddy who ended up pouring me out of his car after dark, having come to the drunken conclusion that nothing else could possible go wrong in my life. Three days later on June 21, 1968 some grumpy employees (more stories :) burned the manufacturing building down. (More stories :) Another 3 days, June 24, 1968......I met the Lord, He turned my life upside down and nothing has been the same since.

I began the second 32 years of my life....where I now did everything the Church told me to do.....ending up at the fence in 1999.